How can so many Israelis back the construction freeze? – Haaretz – Israel News

Who would have believed that we would reach a situation where more than 40 percent of the public supports a construction freeze in East Jerusalem and only half say building should continue? The significance of these surprising numbers is that the Jewish consensus on united Jerusalem has been cracked, if not shattered. It doesn’t mean that half of Israel’s Jews have given up on East Jerusalem or that they see Gilo and Ramot as settlements. It means that increasing numbers feel detached and alienated from the eastern part of the city and do not accept many things that have been going on there. This grave situation is the rotten fruit of the activities of extreme right-wing organizations in Jerusalem, which have the support of Interior Minister Eli Yishai and Mayor Nir Barkat.